The order index for Italian textile machinery carried out by ACIMIT, the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, for 2019 January-March period ranging from January to March 2019 dropped 3% compared to the same period of the previous year. Italian textile machinery manufacturers thus recorded declining orders on foreign markets, where orders fell by 11%. On the domestic front, orders increased by 84% compared to the first quarter 2018. ACIMIT President Alessandro Zucchi commented, “The domestic market is experiencing a dynamic showing similar to late 2017. Investments in the

The July-September period reaffirmed the current industry trend, characterized by consolidation after strong growth in 2017. After major investments in Italy and abroad in recent months, woodworking and wood-based materials companies finally have a new and updated fleet of equipment. As a result, the need to invest is now decreasing. This consideration is essential to analyze the results for the third quarter 2018 processed by the Studies Office of Acimall, the Confindustria member association that represents the manufacturers of machinery and plants. On the whole, figures indicate a slight

Italian imports of plastics and rubber processing machinery racked up an impressive 23% increase in the first half of 2018 with regard to the same period in 2017. On the other hand, we must make us of fractions to describe growth in exports, evidencing the lacklustre performance heralded in the early months of the year. While still well into the black at over one billion euros, the balance of trade has bogged down somewhat, losing over 7%. This is the situation captured by the statistical studies centre of Amaplast based on foreign trade data published by ISTAT. The dynamism of purchases from

Innovation Days 2018 (hashtag #attendID) took place the week of June 25th in Detroit and the greater Chicagoland area, offering Midwestern companies in the automotive, advanced manufacturing and robotics industries extensive opportunities to engage with a group of Italian delegates organized by the Italian Trade Agency via its Rome and Chicago Offices. The weeklong program underscored Italy’s position as US top solution provider while encouraging engagements between some of Italy’s leading companies and universities as they seeked to expand existing relationships and build new ones with

In the first half of 2018, the export of automobiles assembled in Mexico grew by 10.5% compared to the same period last year, for a total increase in vehicle production equal to 6.4%. The data, published by AMIA (Asociacion Mexicana De La Industria Automotriz), does not take into account the activities of Japanese maker Nissan. The reason for the growth, explains AMIA's President Eduardo Solis, lies in the fact that "about 80% of what is produced in the country is destined for export, and the demand in the United States has grown by 5%, in June." The growth in the US has reflected the good

Expo Pack Mexico, the main Mexican trade fair for packaging materials and technologies, took place from June 5 to 8, 2018 at the Expo Santa Fe Exhibition Center in Mexico City. The event registered over 25,000 visitors and approximately 1,000 exhibitors on 193,000 square feet of floor space. The growing international relevance of the show was attested by the numerous country-specific pavilions among which, the most prominent ones, were Argentina’s, the United States’, Brazil’s, and the France one. The Italian Trade Commission (ITA), in partnership with UCIMA - the Italian Packaging Machinery

1,503 exhibitors, 68,802 visitors, 62,000 square metres of floor space. These were the extremely encouraging figures of the last edition of IPACK-IMA, Italy's largest packaging technology trade show, which took place at the Fiera Milano Rho fairground, (Milano), from May 29 to June 1, 2018. Noteworthy were the data regarding international attendees: a total of 18,577 foreign visitors from 146 countries, 27% of the total and two and a half times more than in the previous edition (2015). The success of the shows was also reflected in the traffic on the trade show website: 870,000 visits overall

"We have never seen so much automation and so many advanced systems in any other exhibition around the world!" This was a recurring statement in the aisles of Xylexpo 2018 – the biennial international exhibition of woodworking technology and furniture industry supplies – that was held at Fiera Milano-Rho in Milan, Italy, last May 8th to 12th. As always, the show did not disappoint attendant expectations: plenty of technology for secondary wood processing, from panels to solid wood; the best offer of furniture manufacturing systems; and the most advanced "Industry 4.0" solutions. Xylexpo 2018

The climate of recent times, characterized by a consistent improvement of all indicators, could not last forever. So, here we are, packing up for the summer break, with some hints and reflections… starting from the first trend emerging in the second quarter of this year, namely the widespread slowdown of orders. The traditional quarterly survey by Acimall, the Confindustria member association, reveals a 9.9 percent decrease compared to the same period of 2017. Let's make it clear that the reference quarter was really one of the best, with significant growth rates, nevertheless we cannot let

The Parma area is arguably the unofficial capital of the Italian food and food technology industry and home to world leading food companies, such as Barilla, Parmalat, and CIM and to EFSA - European Food Safety Authority. Every 2 years Parma hosts CIBUS TEC, the leading Italian trade show for food processing equipment. Globally Parma is known for the dairy and meat processing industries and signature food products such as Prosciutto di Parma ham, Parmigiano cheese and more. However, not everybody knows that 65% of Italy’s bakery, confectionery, and snack producing companies are located within